I’ve been reading a fascinating book recently which I can recommend: The Rest Is Noise, by New Yorker music reviewer Alex Ross. It’s a history of music in the 20th century. It wouldn’t be suitable as a textbook for a music history class, since there are no musical notation examples (although he doesn’t shy away […]
The War on Pronouns, cont’d
[one of an occasional series on political correctness in church anthems…] Today’s travesty: the anonymous Renaissance anthem Rejoice in the Lord Alway, which contains the line "let your softness be known unto all men", now corrected to "…be known to all the world". My wife, who directs the children’s choir, last year had […]
Harmonius interruptus
Mark Schweizer provides some entertaining diversions provided via St. James Music Press. Definitions: Incomplete Cadence – harmonius interruptus.Metronome – small elves which live in the London subway system.Basso Continuo – When the director can’t get them to stop.Score – Sopranos 3, Tenors 0.Polychoral Motet – Six parrots singing “Cantate Domino.”Aleatoric (Chance) Music – Music performed by the random selection of pitches […]
Jerks who Flail
Amelia Nagoski’s new blog starts off with an entertaining riff on the image of conductors in the media: I’ve never seen a fictitious conductor who was a great conductor. Instead, I have observed, fictitious conductors tend to be jerks who flail. A number of excellent videos illustrate her point.
Copyright spyware
I know some of you are bored with my paranoia about copyrights, but check this out. The Obama administration’s “Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator” has asked for public input on copyright policy, and the recording and movie industries promptly proposed the most ridiculous, industry-slanted rules George Orwell could possible imagine: The RIAA and MPAA want spyware […]
Perfectionism
A recent commenter on this blog quoted: “An amateur rehearses until he can do it right. A professional rehearses until he cannot do it wrong!” At the same time, author Gerald Klickstein challenges the perfectionist mindset: [T]here’s a big difference between precision and perfection. Actually, when it comes to music, the notion of ‘perfection’ seems like an […]